Iranian Court Sentences Director Jafar Panahi to 5+ Years, Seizes Assets

An Iranian court has sentenced acclaimed film director Jafar Panahi to five years and one month in prison and ordered the confiscation of all his movable and immovable assets, according to his lawyer Mostafa Nili and reports from Hrana and The Guardian on October 27–28, 2026.

Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court also imposed a two-year ban on social media use and a two-year travel restriction. The 66-year-old director, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival last year for "It Was Just an Accident," learned of the ruling only after his bank accounts were frozen. The sentencing was issued in absentia, despite Panahi having returned to Iran on March 30, 2026, after an overseas promotional trip. Nili stated that Panahi was not notified of the hearing date and that the court's case file incorrectly claimed he remained outside the country.

The specific charges against Panahi remain unclear from court documents. This is his second major sentence; he was previously convicted in absentia on charges of "propaganda against the regime" and sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year travel ban, a verdict upheld by the Revolutionary Court in June 2026. Nili noted that Panahi currently faces three open legal cases. An arrest warrant was issued by Branch 16 of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office on May 20, 2026, the same day Panahi appeared in court for proceedings in another case.

Moein Khazaeli, a human rights lawyer at the Iranian legal counselling centre Dadban, stated that the asset confiscation could violate Iran's constitution unless authorities establish a clear legal basis linking the property to an alleged offence. Speaking in the US earlier in 2026, Panahi warned of a continuing "cycle of violence" in Iran. Fellow artists and international figures, including actors Setareh Maleki and Nazanin Boniadi, have condemned the sentence as an attempt to silence artistic expression. A report by the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran warned of intensified crackdowns on cultural figures across the country.